The Secret of Renewal and the Immense Power of Zikuy HaRabim (Bringing the Masses to Merit)

Lesson No. 251 | Cassette 251 Thursday, Parashas Behaaloscha, the eve of 20 Sivan 5760 - A lesson for the lecturers of the Shadarim Kollels in Israel (at the home of the Rav) Monday, Parashas Nasso, 2 Sivan 5760 - Pidyon HaBen (Chen Hall, Kiryat Sanz, Jerusalem)

A profound discourse explaining how one merits constant renewal and supernal spiritual attainments through mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) to bring distant Jews closer to Hashem. Through the secrets of the Zohar regarding the spiritual ascent of Avraham and Sarah, the immense reward reserved for those who go out to teach Torah, create new souls, and illuminate the Jewish people is revealed.

The holy Zohar (page 170) expounds upon the verse:

"A Psalm. Sing to Hashem a new song, for He has done wonders."

Every single day, new wonders and miracles occur that have never existed before. To whom is the command "Sing to Hashem" directed? To the angels who are created every day, for every day more than six hundred thousand angels are created, and they behold these new wonders.

These secrets were revealed by the 'Rav Mesivta' (the Head of the Heavenly Academy) to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai during an elevation of the soul. The 'Rav Mesivta' is Chanoch, who ascended to heaven and became the angel Metatron. Regarding him, it is stated:

"Train [Chanoch] a youth according to his way; even when he grows old, he will not depart from it."

Chanoch is renewed every single second, receiving entirely new spiritual attainments and becoming a new entity. Even though he is already "old" and has been the ministering angel of the world for thousands of years, he is renewed at every moment with a novelty that never existed before.

The Power of Renewal: Illuminating the Diamond

Rebbe Nachman said that every person comes to a halt at some stage, but he testified about himself: "I have never stopped; I am always renewing myself, I have not even begun to live yet." A person who teaches Torah to the masses merits such renewal that he can say at any given moment: "I have not yet begun to live." Even after his passing, one who has students and students of students, his soul is renewed every second.

This is the power of Chanoch. For 365 years, he served Hashem with unceasing renewal. What was the source of his power of renewal? The fact that he spread Torah to the masses and did not allow the world to fall into heresy. The role of a teacher is to explain to every Jew that he is a prince, and that the physical body is nothing more than a box for a diamond. The diamond is the soul. The more a person minimizes the pampering of the body and its physical needs, the more guarded and secure the diamond becomes.

The Secret of the Laughter of Sarah Imeinu

In light of this, the Rav Mesivta reveals to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai the secret of the laughter of Sarah Imeinu in Parashas Vayeira. The verse states:

"And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, 'After I have withered, shall I have rejuvenation [ednah], and my lord is old?'"

Sarah merited to ascend to the Tree of Life and received new spiritual levels. She ascended to the Sefirah of Chochmah (Divine Wisdom), which is called "Eden," about which it is said, "And a river flows out of Eden to water the garden." This is the secret of the words "shall I have ednah (rejuvenation)"—she reached the Supernal Eden. The angels elevated her all at once to hidden and concealed worlds, so that she could bring down to the world a holy soul like Yitzchak.

If so, why did she laugh? She should have been filled with awe and excitement! Rather, out of the tremendous elevation and the leap of tens of thousands of spiritual levels, it seemed to her that only she had merited to ascend there. Out of immense amazement, she asked: "And where is Avraham? Why do I not see him in the heavenly halls to which I am ascending?"

The answer to her question is found at the beginning of Parashas Chayei Sarah:

"And Avraham was old, advanced in days, and Hashem had blessed Avraham with everything."

At the very moment that Sarah ascended to the Sefirah of Chochmah, Avraham ascended to the level of 'Adam Kadmon' (the Primordial Man, the highest of the spiritual realms). Sarah had absolutely no grasp of the immense levels to which Avraham had ascended.

Being the Eyes of Hashem

How did Avraham merit to reach these levels? In the merit of his self-sacrifice to bring people back in teshuvah (repentance). The holy Zohar (Parashas Terumah, 129) says: "If people knew the great value of bringing the wicked back in teshuvah, they would chase after them day and night." One who brings others back in teshuvah is called "the eyes of Hashem." He becomes the eyes of Hashem that roam throughout the earth, searching for how to return His children to Him.

A person who leaves the comfort of his home, travels hundreds of kilometers to remote corners, and gives classes to bring Jews closer—his level is above every tzaddik. For every soul he brings back in teshuvah, Hashem engraves his image Above, holds his picture before His face, and hands him all the keys to the King's treasuries and the secrets of the Torah. What another person might learn in seventy years, the one who brings others back in teshuvah can grasp in a single day, because all the spiritual attainments are handed to him from Heaven.

This is the secret of the verse, "And Hashem blessed Avraham with everything (bakol)." Avraham did not sit in a cave or seclude himself in a yeshiva like Shem and Ever. He went from city to city, from village to village, and cried out: "Gevald! There is Hashem in the world!" Even though they pelted him with stones and called him crazy, he continued to rebuke the creations and awaken them from their slumber. In the merit of this, Hashem revealed to him all the hidden secrets of the Torah until the end of generations.

Creating Souls Through Holy Speech

When a person speaks words of spiritual awakening with his friend, he literally creates a soul for him. The wicked are sunken in lusts, and when one speaks to them with holiness and purity, he breathes a spirit of life into them. Even through a single word or a single letter of holiness, one can create tens of thousands of souls.

For every person who returns in teshuvah, Hashem brings the one who facilitated their teshuvah into seventy hidden worlds that no person has ever merited to enter. If people understood what treasures and supernal chambers they receive in the merit of bringing others close, they would not stop for a moment. They would run from city to city, just as a sick person chases after a drop of oxygen, and they would merit long days and years, as well as spiritual and material wealth.

Responsibility for the Generation

The obligation to go out and teach the nation is not merely a privilege, but an existential responsibility. Tanna D'Vei Eliyahu (Chapter 11) asks: Who is to blame for the killing of seventy thousand men of Israel in the incident of the Concubine at Giv'ah? The shocking answer is: The Great Sanhedrin and Pinchas ben Elazar.

Instead of sitting in the Chamber of Hewn Stone in Shiloh, the members of the Sanhedrin should have tied iron ropes to their waists, lifted their garments, and worn out their feet traveling through all the towns of Israel to teach the nation proper conduct (derech eretz). Because each one sat under his vine and under his fig tree and did not go out to teach, the nation deteriorated to the lowest depths.

The material body pulls a person downward. Even someone who has a great soul, if he does not hear words of Torah and mussar (ethics) every day, the body takes control of him. Our work is to polish the body anew every day, just as one polishes a diamond, in order to extract the lusts from it and transform the demons into angels. If we scatter throughout all the communities of Israel and speak about emunah (faith), the entire Jewish nation will cry out, "Hashem is God," and no one will want the evil inclination.

Part 1 of 3 — Class No. 251

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